CARTON OF MISERY: Goats punched, hit, kicked and ‘left lame’ at farm supplying milk to British supermarkets
The goats were punched, kicked, hit with a pole and slammed onto their backs, crying in pain as they were held by their necks, had their ears tagged or their tails twisted.
JANE DALTON: Animals were subjected to a string of brutal attacks at a farm that sells goats’ milk to Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and other supermarkets, footage from hidden cameras has revealed. Goats were seen on video being punched, kicked, hit with a pole and slammed onto their backs at a plant that supplies St Helen’s Farm, in east Yorkshire. The animals were also filmed crying in pain as they were held by their necks, had their ears tagged or their tails twisted…
About an hour’s worth of video was passed to the Surge animal rights group, which then showed it to a vet and to lawyers at Advocates for Animals, who it said “highlighted many serious issues”. People filming using secret cameras told Surge that at one supply farm, they saw goats being Kicked and punched, and hit with a pole…
Goats were also slammed onto their backs on a conveyor belt before their hooves were roughly trimmed, the video showed. One was seen being dragged by one leg along the ground while struggling. Animal suffering was also prolonged when injuries went untreated, the witnesses said after reviewing the footage…
The people behind the footage also reported seeing workers letting goats fall off an operating bed and become stuck between fences. In one case, a worker “played the drums” on a goat’s stomach after a procedure. The footage also shows farm employees dragging dead animals away in front of live ones, and Surge was told that dead and dying animals had been seen around the farm…
Ed Winters, the co-founder and director of Surge, said: “St Helen’s is the most prominent and well-known goat company in the UK. They are regarded as being the best of the best when it comes to goat farming. But that means nothing to the animals”…
“Goats are sensitive, curious and gentle animals, but the animal-farming industries treat them as commodities they can exploit for profit”… Surge says about 50,000 mostly male dairy kids are slaughtered each year…
Tesco immediately suspended the brand when shown the footage by The Independent. Waitrose and Booths, which has grocery stores around the north of England, followed suit… The Independent has also asked the other supermarkets to respond. SOURCE…
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